A man is currently in police custody over robbery charge following what transpired between him and a Police patrol team in Lagos. The suspect identified as Pius Kingsley Ebere – a big time auto parts dealer based in Ladipo Market was arrested on Friday, October 12, 2018.
On the said date, the police team stopped a Honda Accord saloon car with registration number FST 616 DV, owned and driven by Pius Kingsley Ebere, for a routine check. Instead of allowing the police to do their job, the suspect hurried out of his car and escaped. The car was then towed to the police station and the runaway suspect was eventually arrested.
When the car was searched, the following items engraved with registration number AAA 472 CP believed to be that of the vehicle from which it was stolen were recovered from the suspect: two headlamps, car stereo, four side door automatic control panels, brain box, side mirrors and four rear seats.
Investigations revealed that the items were stolen from a Lexus GX 472 SUV, belonging to one Suleiman Waheed Adebola. He was contacted and he affirmed that the recovered items were parts of his car vandalised in Ekoro area of the state.
Other items recovered from the suspect’s car included: five brain boxes of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, four car stereo sets, a pair of Toyota Corolla 2011 rear lights, a pair of Toyota Corolla 2011 headlamps, three pairs of side mirrors and one front grill cover of Infinity SUV. All recovered items were engraved with licensed registration numbers by their various owners who had been contacted by the police to report with proof of ownership.
Further revelation by the suspect led to the arrest of his accomplice, one Peter Attah, a.k.a Dangote, also an auto parts dealer at Ladipo Auto Spare Parts Market where search warrant was executed and various types of suspected stolen car parts were recovered.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Imohimi Edgal, advised that vehicle owners should engrave their registration numbers on their vehicle parts to discourage vandals and predispose them to arrest by the police.
It will be recalled that exactly two months before the latest incident, on 12th August, 2018, another auto parts dealer from same Ladipo Market, one Daniel Ekwerekwu, was confronted by a police patrol team from Anthony Police Division in the early hours of the morning as he was vandalising cars parked on the streets of Mende-Maryland. Unfortunately, his attempt to evade police arrest ended fatally as his effort to scale a high wall led to his death.